Our Instruments in the Attic outreach program was recently featured in an article in the Lifestyle section of the April 4th edition of Fourth Estate, the student newspaper at Mason.
The article titled “Instruments in the Attic gives old instruments new life”, written by Basma Humadi, describes the it as “A new outreach program …. spreading tunes in a new way by collecting used musical instruments for children and students to give them a second life.”
Jeremy Cochran, Mason Doctoral student and current intern for the Instruments in the Attic, assists with the day-to-day work of the program. “It’s almost like a library, you can come in and check [an instrument] out if you want,” Cochran said. “The purpose of it is to serve Mason music students who might need it for playing a second instrument or for one of their methods courses… [also] there are a lot of needs out there for kids who want to play in band or orchestra and aren’t able to get an instrument.” Through a growing network of collaborations with local and regional schools, IiA is helping to get instruments to those kids.
“This really is recycling on steroids,” Libby Curtis, Director of Potomac Arts Academy, was quoted as saying when describing the program. “We want nothing to go to the landfill.” Besides donating usable instruments to musicians, Instruments in the Attic turns instruments that are past their prime into art projects.
To read the full article, please pick up a hard copy of the April 4th edition of Fourth Estate. Thanks to Basma and the Fourth Estate for choosing to write this story and spotlight this wonderful outreach program.
LEARN MORE ABOUT INSTRUMENTS IN THE ATTIC
Two piano students of 
Keira Konson (pictured with Ms. Zuniga) is 11 years old and from Oakton, VA. She started her piano study at the age of 5. Keira enjoys piano performance, gave her first shared solo recital last year and has played in the Fairfax County Piano Festival for the past 3 years, obtaining the highest rating each year. This is the second year Keira is learning under the great instruction of her teacher, Faith Zúñiga. She particularly enjoys playing the music of Edvard Grieg, but enjoys listening to a wide variety of music. Keira currently also plays the French horn in her school band. She makes fabric-tie wreaths to benefit AIDS orphans in her parents’ native South Africa – and loves every opportunity to visit! Keira has a great desire to serve others, starting with her parents and 3 siblings at home. She also enjoys ballet, lyrical, jazz and acro dance, baking and just about anything else she can pour her creative energy into!
